Second seed Francisco “Django” Bustamante and Dennis Orcollo set out the slight favorites as they take on the unfancied Danish pair of Martin Larsen and Kasper Kristoffersen today in the 2008 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool in Rotterdam, Holland.
This marks Team Villards-Philippines’ debut in the $250,000 event which the Filipinos, behind Bustamante and Efren “Bata” Reyes ruled in 2006 but lost to China last year.
But despite their solid ranking, the RP tandem remains wary of their rivals, ranked 31 in a field of 32 after two higher-seeded teams fell by the wayside right in the opening day.
“The field is very tough, and any team can beat even the top seeded ones,” said Bustamante. “That’s why we need to come up with our best right from the start of the match to avoid the upset, just like what happened to the two teams.”
Bustamante was referring to host Holland and last year’s runner-up Finland, which succumbed to their lower-ranked opponents.
The No. 3 seed Holland A of world No. 2 Niels Feijen and Nick van den Berg lost to No. 30 Noel Bruynooghe and Serge Das of Belgium, 8-3.
The no. 8 Finland, bannered by former world champion Mika Immonen and Markus Juva, dropped an 8-4 decision against Korea of Jeong Young-hwa and Kim Woong-dae.
“A race-to-eight match is very short, so you need to have a strong start. If we can keep them off the table, the better because they could go straight if given a chance,” said world No. 1 Orcollo, whose campaign with Bustamante is supported by Senate President Manny Villar’s Villards: Tulong sa Pagsulong ng Philippine Sports and the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP).
Other opening round matches saw defending champion and top seed China thwart No. 32 India, 8-6; No. 5 England, led by reigning world 9-ball titlist Darryl Peach, beat Malta, 8-4; No. 9 Italy blast Peru, 8-4; and No. 16 Switzerland prevail over Hong Kong, 8-5.
A team needs to win five straight matches to win the crown.